Davos 2026: Trump, Shehbaz Sharif among attendees for World Economic Forum; Modi, Xi to skip | Full list

The aim behind this year's theme is to "connect leaders to confront shared challenges and drive innovations defining the future."

Published on: Jan 20, 2026, 10:51:44 IST

By HT News Desk

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The World Economic Forum 2026 in Davos kicked off! Among the list of attendees for the summit in Switzerland are names such as US President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and many more. However, there are many leaders who will not be making the list.

A sign of the World Economic Forum (WEF) is seen at the Congress Centre on its opening day in Davos on January 19, 2026. (AFP)

This year's theme for the economic summit is - 'A Spirit of Dialogue'. The aim behind this theme, as per the official WEF website, is to "connect leaders to confront shared challenges and drive innovations defining the future."

Who is attending WEF 2026 in Davos?

As per the official website, Donald Trump, Mark Carney are on the list of attendees. Along with the US and Canadian leaders, several other heads of states are also scheduled to make an appearance. These are -

Friedrich Merz, Federal Chancellor of Germany
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission
He Lifeng, Vice-Premier of the People's Republic of China
Javier Milei, President of Argentina
Prabowo Subianto, President of Indonesia
Guy Parmelin, President of the Swiss Confederation 2026
Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan
Bart De Wever, Prime Minister of Belgium
Gustavo Petro, President of Colombia
Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Daniel Noboa Azín, President of Ecuador
Alexander Stubb, President of Finland
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister of Greece
Micheál Martin, Taoiseach, Ireland
Aziz Akhannouch, Head of Government, Kingdom of Morocco
Daniel Francisco Chapo, President of Mozambique
Dick Schoof, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan
Mohammed Mustafa, Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority
Karol Nawrocki, President of Poland
Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar
Aleksandar Vučić, President of Serbia
Tharman Shanmugaratnam, President of Singapore
Isaac Herzog, President of the State of Israel
Ahmad Al Sharaa, President of Syria
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine

Along with these names, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni are also expected to attend the summit. However, their names are not mentioned on the official lists, nor has there been any comment from their respective offices.

NATO chief Mark Rutte; WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, World Bank president Ajay Banga and more heads of international organisations are set to attend the event, along with 1,700 business leaders, including close 850 of the world’s top CEOs and chairpersons.

Who is skipping Davos?

Pedro Sánchez, the Prime Minister of Spain has dropped out from the list of attendees for the WEF 2026. This decision comes after a deadly train collision in Spain killed at least 39 people.

Other names not on the list are Brazil’s President Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While the heads of state will not be giving addresses, delegations from Rio de Janeiro and New Delhi will be present at WEF.

Chinese president Xi Jinping is also not on the list of attendees. However, his vice premier will be representing China at the summit. Furthermore, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is also not on WEF’s attendance list.

However, several Saudi ministers, including Finance Minister Mohammed Al Jadaan, are scheduled to be in attendance at the event.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
HT News Desk
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